Transportation connection cache for dynamic network and route determination

ABSTRACT

A transportation management system may include a connection cache configured to store connection-relevant transportation information for transportation objects. The connection-relevant transportation information may have been replicated from at least one of a plurality of transportation object sources including at least a first database storing schedules, a second database storing freight bookings, and a third database storing freight orders. The transportation management system may also include a connection cache access engine configured to receive transportation parameters including at least a first location and a second location, and query the connection cache to dynamically select one or more transportation objects from the connection cache related to at least one of the schedules, the freight bookings, and the freight orders, that are relevant for the first location and the second location.

BACKGROUND

Determining a transportation plan to ship goods over a world-widenetwork involving many possible modes of transport (e.g., air, ocean,etc.) while minimizing costs and satisfying all constraints is achallenging task. For example, this may be challenging, in particularfor a complex network containing many alternative routes, numerousexisting freight documents for different modes of transport, and thefact that a user may expect transportation plan results in a relativelyshort period of time.

Multiple object types are relevant for determining connections in thesystem, e.g., schedules and different kinds of freight documents such asroad freight orders, rail freight orders, air freight bookings and oceanfreight bookings. Usually, different objects are stored in differentdatabase tables, which have separate access structures. In other words,the essential information relevant for the transportation capabilitiesis spread over multiple databases, which may contain much moreinformation than needed. As such, conventional transportation planningmechanisms that access and search many different types of databases maybe relatively slow and ineffective. In addition, each new typerepresenting a possible connection must be accessed and integrated intothe transportation planning logic separately.

SUMMARY

The embodiments may provide a transportation management system forretrieving transportation information related to a shipment of goods.The transportation management system may include a connection cacheconfigured to store connection-relevant transportation information fortransportation objects. The connection-relevant transportationinformation may have been replicated from at least one of a plurality oftransportation object sources including at least a first databasestoring schedules, a second database storing freight bookings, and athird database storing freight orders. The transportation managementsystem may also include a connection cache access engine configured toreceive transportation parameters including at least a first locationand a second location, and query the connection cache to dynamicallyselect one or more transportation objects from the connection cacherelated to at least one of the schedules, the freight bookings, and thefreight orders, that are relevant for the first location and the secondlocation.

The connection cache may include a replication component configured toreplicate the connection-relevant transportation information fromtransportation objects in the plurality of transportation objectsources.

The plurality of transportation object sources may further include afourth database storing transportation lanes, and the connection cacheaccess engine may be configured to select at least one transportationobject from the connection cache related to at least one transportationlane that is relevant for the first location and the second location.

The plurality of transportation object sources may further include afifth database storing default routes, and the connection cache accessengine may be configured to select at least one transportation objectfrom the connection cache related to at least one default route that isrelevant for the first location and the second location. The at leastone default route may provide an existing defined route between thefirst location and the second location.

The transportation management system may further include a routingselector configured to select a transportation network includingdetermining connections within the transportation network for the firstlocation and the second location based on the connection-relevanttransportation information in the connection cache, and a transportationproposal unit configured to determine one or more transportationproposals based on the determined connections within the selectedtransportation network. Each transportation proposal may provide adifferent transportation plan for transporting the goods from the firstlocation to the second location.

The connections may include at least one of a direct or multi-stopschedule, a freight booking, a freight order, a transportation lane, anda default route between the first location and the second location.

The routing selector may include a transshipment location determinationunit configured to determine a first explicitly assigned hub associatedwith the first location, and a second explicitly assigned hub associatedwith the second location, and the routing selector may be configured toselect transportation objects for the transportation network using thefirst explicit hub and the second explicit hub as entries into theconnection cache.

Also, the routing selector may be configured to determine at least oneimplicitly assigned hub associated with the first location and at leastone implicitly assigned hub associated with the second location based onan analysis of the connection-relevant transportation information of theconnection cache.

The routing selector may further includes a path finder configured tocreate and verify available paths associated with the implicitly andexplicitly assigned hubs, and the routing selector may be configured toselect the connections having verified paths.

The transportation management system may further include a geo-map unitconfigured to display a map providing a visualization of the one or moretransportation proposals based on the determined connections from therouting selector.

The embodiments may include a computer program product tangibly embodiedon a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and includingexecutable code that, when executed, is configured to cause at least oneprocessor to retrieve transportation information related to a shipmentof goods. The executable code may include instructions to receivetransportation parameters including at least a first location and asecond location, and query a connection cache based on thetransportation parameters. The connection cache may storeconnection-relevant transportation information for transportationobjects. The connection-relevant transportation information may havebeen replicated from at least one of a plurality of transportationobject sources including at least a first database storing schedules, asecond database storing freight bookings, and a third database storingfreight orders. The instructions may include instructions to select oneor more transportation objects from the connection cache related to atleast one of the schedules, the freight bookings, and the freightorders, that are relevant for the first location and the secondlocation.

The plurality of transportation object sources may further include afourth database storing transportation lanes, and the instructions toselect one or more transportation objects may include selecting at leastone transportation object from the connection cache related to at leastone transportation lane that is relevant for the first location and thesecond location.

The plurality of transportation object sources may further include afifth database storing default routes, and the instructions to selectone or more transportation objects may include selecting at least onetransportation object from the connection cache related to at least onedefault route that is relevant for the first location and the secondlocation. The at least one default route may provide an existing definedroute between the first location and the second location.

The instructions may further include instructions to select atransportation network including determining connections within thetransportation network for the first location and the second locationbased on the connection-relevant transportation information in theconnection cache, and determine one or more transportation proposalsbased on the determined connections within the selected transportationnetwork. Each transportation proposal may provide a differenttransportation plan for transporting the goods from the first locationto the second location.

The connections may include at least one of a direct or multi-stopschedule, a freight booking, a freight order, a transportation lane, anda default route between the first location and the second location.

The instructions may include instructions to determine a firstexplicitly assigned hub associated with the first location, and a secondexplicitly assigned hub associated with the second location, and selecttransportation objects for the transportation network using the firstexplicit hub and the second explicit hub as entries into the connectioncache including determining at least one implicitly assigned hubassociated with the first location and at least one implicitly assignedhub associated with the second location based on an analysis of theconnection-relevant transportation information of the connection cache.

The embodiments may provide a method for determining one or moretransportation proposals for a shipment of goods. The method may includereplicating, by at least one processor, connection-relevanttransportation information from at least one of a plurality oftransportation object sources. The plurality of transportation objectsources may include at least a first database storing schedules, asecond database storing freight bookings, and a third database storingfreight orders. The method may include storing, by the at least oneprocessor, the connection-relevant transportation information astransportation objects to create a connection cache database, receiving,by the at least one processor, transportation parameters for theshipment of goods from a first location to a second location, andselecting, by the at least one processor, a transportation networkincluding determining connections within the transportation network forthe first location and the second location based on theconnection-relevant transportation information in the connection cachedatabase. The method may further include determining, by the at leastone processor, one or more transportation proposals based on thedetermined connections within the selected transportation network. Eachtransportation proposal may provide a different transportation plan fortransporting the goods from the first location to the second location.

The connections may include at least one of a direct or multi-stopschedule, a freight booking order, a freight order, a transportationlane, and a default route. Also, the method may include determining afirst explicitly assigned hub associated with the first location, and asecond explicitly assigned hub associated with the second location, andselecting transportation objects for the transportation network usingthe first explicit hub and the second explicit hub as entries into theconnection cache database.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a transportation management system for determiningone or more transportation proposals for a shipment of goods using atransportation connection cache according to an embodiment;

FIG. 1B illustrates an example of the transportation connection cacheaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 1C illustrates a transportation management system for retrievingtransportation information from the transportation connection cacheaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of processing a transportation proposalusing the transportation management system of FIG. 1A according to anembodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical representation of a routing selector ofthe transportation management system of FIG. 1A according to anembodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical representation of the routing selector ofthe transportation management system of FIG. 1A with mapping informationaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a transportation proposal user interface provided bythe transportation management system of FIG. 1A according to anembodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a transportation proposal user interface provided bythe transportation management system of FIG. 1A according to anotherembodiment; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating example operations of thetransportation management system of FIGS. 1A and/or 1C according to anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments provide a transportation connection cache for use withina transportation management system. For example, a transportationproposal unit may determine one or more transportation proposals forscheduling a shipment of goods from a starting location to a destinationlocation. Conventionally, the transportation proposal unit may determinethese transportation plans from a number of different sources such as aschedule database, a bookings order database, and a freight orderdatabase, among others, for example. However, independently accessingthese databases to determine the optimal transportation connections maybe relatively time consuming. Therefore, according to the embodiments,connection-relevant information for the schedules, the booking orders,and the freight orders, etc., may be replicated and stored in thetransportation connection cache.

The transportation connection cache may be considered a new layer ofabstraction, which may be considered to suppress or conceal the detailsof the connection objects that are not related to determining possiblelocations and connections between the locations for determiningtransportation proposals for a shipment of goods. For example, thetransportation connection cache may abstract only theconnection-relevant information from the transportation objects (e.g.,schedules, freight documents such as freight bookings and freightorders) in the existing databases or database tables, and may representthem in a unified fashion as from-to-connections.

According to the embodiments, the transportation proposal unit maydetermine one or more transportation proposals based on thetransportation connection cache, which may increase the performance ofthe transportation management system. For example, the transportationproposal unit may communicate with the transportation connection cachevia a routing selector that uses a single uniform interface for accessto the transportation connection cache without having to access andsearch multiple databases associated with the schedules, freightbookings, freight orders, and/or transportation lanes, which may containmuch more information than the connection-relevant transportationinformation of the transportation connection cache. These and otherfeatures of the embodiments will be discussed below with reference tothe figures.

FIG. 1A illustrates a transportation management system 100 fordetermining one or more transportation proposals for a shipment of goodsusing a transportation connection cache according to an embodiment.

The transportation management system 100 may be any type of systemsupporting activities connected with the physical transportation ofgoods from a first location (starting location) to a second location(destination location). Generally, the transportation management system100 may create orders, transfer orders and/or deliveries from anEnterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, create freight bookings, planthe transportation, select carriers, tender transportation services,dispatch and monitor the transportation, calculate the transportationcharges for the ordering party and the supplier side, and/or considerforeign trade and dangerous goods regulations.

According to one aspect, the transportation management system 100 maydetermine one or more transportation proposals that satisfy constraints(e.g., starting and destination locations, quantity, type of goods,etc.). For example, given a set of transportation demands (specified bysource location, destination location, desired pickup and deliverytimes), a transportation network (specified by transshipment locations,movement capabilities between locations, and schedules connectingmultiple locations), one or more current transportation plans(represented by freight documents for all modes of transport), thetransportation management system 100 may determine one or moretransportation proposals for the transportation demands which minimizescosts and satisfies the imposed constraints.

However, checking all possible paths through the transportation networkmay be considered relatively time consuming. For example, a complextransportation network may contain many different alternative routes,and numerous existing freight documents for all modes of transport. Inparticular, multiple object types are relevant for determiningconnections in the system, e.g., schedules and different kinds offreight documents such as freight orders, air freight bookings, andocean freight booking. Usually, different objects are stored indifferent databases (e.g., databases 130) and have separate accessstructure. For example, the schedules, freight bookings, freight orders,transportation lanes, and/or default routes, are maintained in separatedatabases (e.g., databases 130), and have separate access structures.Generally, these types of objects may be referred to as transportationobjects, and the details of each type of transportation object arefurther explained below. Further, the schedules, freight bookings,and/or freight orders, etc. (as maintained in these databases) usuallycontain more information than required to select the appropriateconnections for determining a transportation proposal for the shipmentof goods from the starting location to the destination location.

As such, the transportation management system 100 may include atransportation connection cache 128 that stores connection-relevanttransportation information replicated from the databases 130. Forexample, the transportation connection cache 128 may store a smaller setof information related to the schedules, freight bookings, and/or thefreight orders, etc. in the transportation connection cache 128 thanwhat is originally stored in these databases 130. In one example, theconnection-relevant information may include, for a given source anddestination, the relevant transportation objects per mode of transportand means of transport, each with a validity period.

The plurality of databases 130 may include a first database 130-1, asecond database 130-2, a third database 130-3, a fourth database 130-4,and a fifth database 130-5. However, the plurality of databases 130 mayinclude any number of databases 130, where each database 130 may store adifferent type of transportation object (or multiple types). Also, it isnoted that the databases 130 may represent separate databases orseparate database tables.

The first database 130-1 may store schedules. Each schedule may definethe transportation capabilities of a carrier such as the dates and timesfor the shipment of goods. Generally, the schedule may represent aservice offered by an external company (carrier) such as ocean, air,rail, and/or truck carriers. The schedules may include direct schedulesfor a first location to a second location, or multi-stop scheduleshaving a series of locations between the first location and the secondlocation.

The second database 130-2 may store freight bookings. A freight bookingmay refer to an air-freight booking or an ocean-freight booking.Generally, a freight booking may be an order whose execution is plannedby a carrier, for example. The freight booking may contain the planninginformation for the logistical processing, e.g., fixed departure timesof the carrier. Among other information, booking orders may includeplanning information (e.g., planned means of transport and stages),additional business partners, transportation charges, transportationdependencies (e.g., related freight orders), house bill of landings,and/or information about the carrier ranking, etc.

The third database 130-3 may store freight orders. A freight order mayrefer to land such as a road-freight order or a rail-freight order.Therefore, a freight order may be similar to a booking order (exceptthat the freight order applies to road or rail). The freight order mayinclude information regarding the planned departure times of thevehicle, the business partners, the document dependencies,transportation charges, the house bill of landing, and/or statusinformation, for example. The term freight document may refer to anytype of freight document such as road freight orders, rail freightorders, air freight bookings, and ocean freight bookings.

The fourth database 130-4 may store transportation lanes. Atransportation lane may be the relationship between at least twolocations, two transportation zones, or a combination of locations andzones that expresses the direct reachability of the locations or of alllocations within the zones for a specific means of transport. Atransportation lane is defined by a source location or zone, adestination location or zone, and a means of transport. A transportationlane may include information such as products that can be procured overthis transportation lane, and the means of transport that can be usedfor transporting the products being procured. A means of transportrepresents a class of trucks, ships, or airplanes that are used totransport goods from one location to another over a transportation lane.The means of transport may be assigned by specifying the associatedparameters such as the transportation duration, distance, and costs.

The fifth database 130-5 may store default routes. A default route is apredefined path, which connects a source and a destination through thetransportation network. Given a new freight unit to be transported and adefault route that matches the freight unit's source and destination,the freight unit can be transported according to the path defined by thedefault route. In this sense, the default route serves as a template fordefining a transportation plan for the freight unit at hand.

The transportation connection cache 128 may include information that isnecessary for determining the transportation network for transportationproposal, as opposed to the larger set of information contained in thedatabases 130. For example, upon creation of a transportation object(e.g., schedule, freight document, transportation lane, default routeetc.) within its respective database 130, the transportation connectioncache 128 may be populated with connection-relevant transportationinformation associated with the created transportation object, whichincludes only the details for determining possible connections withoutthe other details such as the house bill of landing, for example. Inother words, only the information from the transportation objects(schedules, freight bookings, freight orders, transportation lanes,default routes, etc.) that are relevant to determining connections maybe populated into the transportation connection cache 128. As such, thetransportation connection cache 128 may include transportation objectsrelated to the schedules, freight bookings, freight orders,transportation lanes, default routes, however each of thesetransportation objects of the transportation connection cache 128 mayinclude less information than the corresponding transportation objectsin the databases 130.

Then, the transportation management system 100 may determine one or moretransportation proposals based on the transportation connection cache128, which provides faster access as compared to collecting data out ofnumerous different databases, as further described below. Further, withuse of the transportation connection cache 128, the transportationmanagement system 100 may dynamically select the relevant schedules,freight documents, and/or transportation lanes, and may dynamicallydetermine transshipment options (e.g., implicit transshipment locations,which are further discussed below).

FIG. 1B illustrates an example of the transportation connection cache128 according to an embodiment. For example, the transportationconnection cache 128 may include an access engine 128-1, a replicationengine 128-2, and a connection cache database 128-3, as furtherdescribed below.

The access engine 128-1 may be configured to access the connection cachedatabase 128-3. For example, the access engine 128-1 may handleread/write commands for access to the connection cache database 128-3.In one example, the access component 128-1 may receive any queries forany of the type of data stored in the connection cache database 128-3(e.g., freight bookings, schedules, transportation lanes, freightorders, default routes, etc.) via a single interface, and then locateand retrieve the relevant schedules, freight bookings, freight orders,transportation lanes, and/or default routes, etc., from the connectioncache database 128-3 according to the transportation parameters, whichmay specify the locations, type of goods, specified pick up time, orgenerally any type of transportation parameter. In one example, theaccess component 128-1 may receive a request for a particular type oftransportation object for a source location and a destination location,and then retrieve the relevant transportation objects(s) matching thesource location and the destination location, e.g., all schedules fromlocation A to location B.

The replication engine 128-2 may be configured to replicate theconnection-relevant transportation information from the transportationobjects in the databases 130. The replication engine 128-2 may handlethe information replication from the transportation objects stored intheir separate databases or database tables. Upon creation of atransportation object (e.g., schedule, freight document, transportationlane, default route, etc.) within its respective database 130, thereplication engine 128-2 may replicate the connection-relevanttransportation information associated with the created or changedtransportation object, which includes only the details for determiningpossible connections without the other details such as the house bill oflanding, for example. Then, the replication engine 128-2 may store thereplicated information in the connection cache database 128-3. Forexample, the replication component 128-2 may create or change entriesfor each of the replicated information, which may contain theconnection-relevant information for the freight bookings, schedules,transportation lanes, freight orders, default routes, etc. In oneexample, the connection-relevant information may include, for a givensource and destination, the relevant transportation objects per mode oftransport and means of transport, each with a validity period.

The connection cache database 128-3 may be configured to store theconnection-relevant transportation information as transportation objectshaving only the connection-relevant transportation information. Theconnection cache database 128-3 may be any type of relational database,or may be an in-memory database. The in-memory database may be a type ofdatabase system that supports real-time analytics and transactionalprocessing including replication and aggregation techniques. Thein-memory database may include a parallel processing data store thatutilizes row-based, column-based, and/or object-based storagetechniques.

Referring back to FIG. 1A, the transportation management system 100 mayinclude a transportation proposal unit 102 for providing transportationsolutions (e.g., the transportation proposals), a routing selector 114for selecting a transportation network and determining locations andconnections within the transportation network that satisfy thetransportation parameters (starting location, destination location,specified dates/times, etc.) based on the transportation connectioncache 128 (e.g., the resulting information is used by the transportationproposal unit 102), a geo-map unit 110 configured to display a mapproviding a geographical visual display of the transportation proposalsusing information from the transportation connection cache 128, anexplanation tool providing transportation details of the locations andthe connections using the information from the transportation connectioncache 128, and the transportation connection cache 128 that storesconnection-relevant transportation information that has been replicatedfrom at least one of plurality of sources including the database 130.

Further, the transportation management system 100 may include at leastone processor 132, and a computer-readable storage medium 134. Thecomputer-readable storage medium 134 may include instructions, whenexecuted by at least one processor 148, cause the at least one processor132 to implement the functionalities of the transportation management100 as described herein. Also, the transportation management system 100may include other components that are well known to one of ordinaryskill in the art.

The transportation proposal unit 102 may be configured to determine oneor more transportation proposals for the shipment of goods from thestarting location to the destination location. For example, thetransportation proposal unit 102 may determine transportation solutionsconsidering restrictions (e.g., times, incompatibilities, andgeographical connections) for to-be-delivered freight units. Thetransportation proposal unit 102 may represent the end-to-end process,e.g., the user interaction to the backend processing to the resultdisplay on the transportation user interface. The transportationproposal unit 102 may include a pre-processing unit 104, a vehiclescheduling and routing unit 106, and a post-processing unit 108.

Generally, the pre-processing unit 104 may be configured to pre-processthe relevant information associated with a transportation plan analysis,and convert this information to a format compatible with the vehiclescheduling and routing unit 106. In one example, the pre-processing unit104 may select all relevant transportation management objects (e.g., themaster data and business documents). In addition, in order to carry outits pre-processing, the pre-processing unit 104 may utilize a routingselector 114 that selects the transportation network including theconnections for the starting location and the destination location forthe transportation of goods based on the transportation connection cache128.

The connections may include locations, transshipment locations,schedules, transportation lanes, freight bookings, default routes,and/or freight orders, which are relevant to the transportationproposal. A location may be a logical or physical place in whichproducts, or resources, are managed on a quantity. A location may beidentified by a name, and defined by its name and type. Types oflocations may be production plant, distribution center, shipping point,stock transfer point, customer, vendor, terminal, and/or store.

A transshipment location may be a location that is used for unloadinggoods from one vehicle resource and loading it into another vehicleresource during the transportation process. Transshipment locations areused when different means of transport or different carriers have to beused in the transportation process. Further, transshipment locations areused when consolidating or de-consolidating goods to be transported. Atransshipment location may be defined by assigning a location to eitheranother location or to a transportation zone. When a transshipmentlocation is assigned to a transportation zone, the transshipmentlocation can be used as the transshipment location by all locations thatare part of that transportation zone. Also, a transshipment location maybe defined by assigning a location to a transshipment location chain.Examples for transshipment locations are ports, airports, railwaystations or distribution centers.

In one example, for a shipment of goods from the starting location tothe destination location, the connections may include 1) a directschedule from the starting location to the destination location, 2) amulti-stop schedule from the starting location to the destinationlocation, 3) a booking order from the starting location to thedestination location, 4) a freight order from the starting location tothe destination location, and 5) a transportation lane from the startinglocation to the destination location. The routing selector 114 mayquickly obtain the connections (e.g., the direct schedule, themulti-stop schedule, the booking order, the freight order, defaultroute, and/or the transportation lane) that satisfy the transportationparameters by accessing the transportation connection cache 128. Forexample, instead of accessing multiple databases, the routing selector114 accesses and queries a single database (the transportationconnection cache 128) that stores the connection-relevant transportationinformation related to the schedules, freight booking orders, freightorders, default routes, and/or transportation lanes.

The pre-processing unit 104 may collect the relevant connectionsdetermined by the routing selector 114, and transfer this information tothe vehicle scheduling and routing unit 106.

The vehicle scheduling and routing unit 106 may determine one or moretransportation proposals associated with the shipment of goods from thestarting location to the destination location. Each transportationproposal may provide a different transportation plan for transportingthe goods from the starting location to the destination location (e.g.,a number of alternative paths or routes). In particular, the vehiclescheduling and routing unit 106 may assign freight units to capacitiesin a cost-effective way while adhering to the constraints, and todetermine the sequence of deliveries and the transportation dates andtimes.

The post-processing unit 108 may perform post-processing operations onthe determined transportation proposals including formatting thedetermined transportation proposals for display on a transportation userinterface and storing them as transportation management objects.

The routing selector 114 may include a transportation network collector116, a transportation lane determination unit 118, a path finder 120,and a transshipment location determination unit 126.

The transportation network collector 116 may be responsible forpre-processing all relevant transportation networks, enriching them withthe required information, and mapping the information into an internalplanning format that is compatible with the pre-processing unit 104. Forexample, the transportation network collector 116 may receive theresults of the transportation lane determination unit 118, the pathfinder 120, and the transshipment location determination unit 126, andformat this information to be provided to the pre-processing unit 104.

In one example, the transportation network collector 116 may beconfigured to call the transportation lane determination unit 118, andthe path finder 120. Then, the path finder 120 may call thetransshipment location determination unit 126 that selects the entriesinto the transportation connection cache 128. The transshipment locationdetermination unit 126 may obtain the relevant connections from thetransportation connection cache 128, and then returns these connectionsto the path finder 120. The path finder 120 creates and verifies pathsassociated with the connections, and then returns this information tothe transportation network collector 116. Then, the transportationnetwork collector 116 formats the obtained information, which is thenprovided to back to the pre-processing unit 104.

The transshipment location determination unit 126 may be configured todetermine explicitly assigned transport hubs. Then, the transshipmentlocation determination unit 126 may determine implicitly assignedtransport hubs using the transportation connection cache 128. Generally,a transport hub is a place where goods are exchanged between vehicles orbetween transport modes. The transport hub may be a transshipmentlocation or a location.

In one example, the transshipment location determination unit 126 maydetermine one or more explicitly assigned transport hubs associated withthe starting location. For example, the starting location may beassociated with a transportation zone. The transshipment locationdetermination unit 126 may determine the transport hubs that have beenassigned to the transportation zone. Also, the transshipment locationdetermination unit 126 may determine one or more explicitly assignedtransport hubs associated with the destination location. For example,the destination location may be associated with a differenttransportation zone. The transshipment location determination unit 126may determine the transport hubs that have been assigned to thetransportation zone.

The transshipment location determination unit 126 uses the explicitlyassigned transport hubs associated with the starting location and thedestination location as entries into the transportation connection cache128 for any possible connection/locations between the explicitlyassigned transport hubs, e.g., implicitly assigned transport hubs, andthe connections between the transport hubs.

In particular, after the transshipment location determination unit 126determines the explicitly assigned hubs for the start and destinationlocations, the transshipment location determination unit 126 maydetermine the implicitly assigned hubs for the start location. Toaccomplish this, the transshipment location determination unit 126accesses the transportation connection cache 128 via its interface, anddetermines all possible connections starting from the suppliedlocations, e.g., the starting location, the destination location, andthe explicitly assigned hubs for the start and destination locations.Then, the transshipment location determination unit 126 may determinethe implicitly assigned hubs for the destination location. To accomplishthis, the transshipment location determination unit 126 accesses thetransportation connection cache 128 via its interface, and determinesall possible locations ending at the supplied locations, e.g., thestarting location, the destination location, and the explicitly assignedhubs for the start and destination locations.

The path finder 120 may create and verify available paths associatedwith the implicitly and explicitly assigned hubs. Generally, the pathfinder 120 may apply the same logic as described above to determine allrelevant hubs, fill location buffer for messages, create all availablepaths considering the assigned hubs, verify each link of found paths ifa reachability exists, and evaluate paths (e.g., determine if validpath, add message). For example, the location identifiers associatedwith the connections may be in an un-readable format. As such, fordetermined locations, the path finder 120 may fill a location bufferwith location information such that the determined location may bepresented to the user in a readable format.

As a complex network may contain numerous potential paths between asource location and a destination location, the path finder 120 mayemploy heuristic information to determine only reasonable paths betweenthe source location and the destination. In one example, with a sourcelocation of Frankfurt, Germany, and a destination location ofPhiladelphia, USA, it would make sense to consider a path via the portsHamburg and Newark, but it would not make sense to consider a path via aport in Australia. The definition of a reasonable path may be based onthe total distance or any other measure that measures the “geographicaldirectness” of the path in relation to the source and destination.

The determined paths constitute a sub-network of the transportationnetwork, and subsequent transportation planning algorithms may focus onthis sub-network rather than having to explore the completetransportation network.

The path finder 120 may include a path creator 122 and a path evaluator124. The path creator 122 may construct valid location sequences leadingfrom the start location to the destination location considering theexplicit and implicit assigned hubs. Also, the path creator 122 maydetermine the connections for each location sequence. The path evaluator124 may analyze each result built by the path creator 122. For example,the path evaluator 124 may add messages and evaluates if the result isvalid or not. The validity check of a path may consider the availablecapacity along the path (e.g. a certain booking along the path allowstransporting only 20 tons but the freight unit at hand consists of 40tons), incompatibilities of the goods (e.g. an air freight booking doesnot allow dangerous goods, but the freight unit contains dangerousgoods), time constraints (e.g. the freight unit must be shipped within 5days but the ocean schedule requires 3 weeks to deliver the freight),etc.

FIG. 1C illustrates a transportation management system 150 forretrieving transportation information from the transportation connectioncache 128 according to an embodiment. For example, the transportationmanagement system 150 may include a connection cache access engine 129,the transportation connection cache 128, and the plurality of databases130.

In contrast to the transportation management system 100 of FIG. 1A, thetransportation management system 150 of FIG. 1C is not necessarilylimited to determining transportation proposals. Rather, the connectioncache access engine 129 may quickly obtain the connection-relevanttransportation information for the transportation objects related toschedules, freight bookings, freight orders, transportation lanes,and/or default routes for any type of purpose including thedetermination of transportation proposals. As such, the transportationmanagement system 150 may include any of the components/functionalitiespreviously explained with reference to the transportation managementsystem 150 of FIG. 1A.

In one example, a transportation planner may just want to check whetherit is possible at all to transport goods from a source to a destination,without determining a feasible transportation plan. In another example,the transportation planner just wants to check whether it is possible toreach a destination from a source by combining available schedules,without considering already existing freight documents. This can beaccomplished by parameterizing the connection cache access engine 129such that it only returns schedule connections.

The connection cache access engine 129 may be the access engine 128-1 ofFIG. 1B, or a different functional component associated with thetransportation management system 150. In one example, the connectioncache access engine 129 may be configured to receive transportationparameters such as the starting location and the destination location,and then locate and retrieve the relevant schedules, freight bookings,freight orders, transportation lanes, and/or default routes, etc., fromthe transportation connection cache 128. For example, the connectioncache access engine 129 may be configured to query the transportationconnection cache 128 to dynamically select one or more transportationobjects from the transportation connection cache 128 related to any ofthe above transportation objects that are relevant for the startlocation and the destination. In other words, the connection cacheaccess engine 129 may be able to select the appropriate schedules,freight documents (freight bookings, freight orders, etc.), andtransportation lanes, between the starting location and the destinationlocation.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of processing a transportation proposalusing the transportation management system 100 according to anembodiment. For example, the transportation management system 100 mayincludes a user interface 140, a transportation management backendcomponent 142, and an optimizer 144. The user interface 140 may includea transportation management interface that allows a user to interactwith the transportation management system 100. The transportationmanagement backend component 142 may include hardware and softwareresources for handing the pre-processing and the post-processing of thetransportation proposal. The optimizer 144 may include hardware andsoftware resources for performing the functions of the vehiclescheduling and routing unit 106.

In operation 202, a user may start the transportation proposal. Forexample, a user may input transportation parameters such as the startinglocation and the destination location, specified pickup/drop-off times,types of goods, quantity of goods, and/or any other type of constraint.In operation 204, the transportation management backend component 142may perform the pre-processing including the functionalities of therouting selector 114. In operation 208, the optimizer 144 may optimizethe transportation proposals including performing the functionalitiesassociated with the vehicle scheduling and routing unit 106. Inoperation 208, the transportation management backend component 142 mayperform the post-processing including the functionalities of thepost-processing unit 108. In operation 210, the user interface 140 mayprovide the transportation results including one or more transportationproposals, which are further illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical representation of the routing selector114 according to an embodiment. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates atransportation network including the locations and the connectionsdetermined by the routing selector 114.

The routing selector 114 may determine one or more explicitly assignedhubs 304 associated with a start location 302-1, and determine or moreexplicitly assigned hubs 304 associated with a destination location302-1. In particular, the transshipment location determination unit 126may determine one or more explicitly assigned transport hubs 304associated with the starting location, e.g., Hub 1 and Hub 2. Forexample, the starting location may be associated with a transportationzone (Zone X). The transshipment location determination unit 126 maydetermine the transport hubs (Hub 1, Hub 2) that have been assigned tothe transportation zone (Zone X). Also, the transshipment locationdetermination unit 126 may determine one or more explicitly assignedtransport hubs 304 (Hub 3, Hub 4) associated with the destinationlocation 302-1. For example, the destination location may be associatedwith a different transportation zone (Zone Y). The transshipmentlocation determination unit 126 may determine the transport hubs (Hub 3,Hub 4) that have been assigned to the transportation zone (Zone Y).

The routing selector 114 may determine one or more implicitly assignedhubs (Hub 5, Hub 6) and the connections between the locations (startlocation 301-1, hubs 304, and hubs 308) using the transportationconnection cache 128. In particular, after the transshipment locationdetermination unit 126 determines the explicitly assigned hubs for thestart and destination locations, the transshipment locationdetermination unit 126 may determine the implicitly assigned hubs forthe start location. To accomplish this, the transshipment locationdetermination unit 126 accesses the transportation connection cache 128via its interface, and determines all possible connections starting fromthe supplied locations, e.g., the starting location 302-1, destinationlocation 302-1, and the explicitly assigned hubs 304 for the start anddestination locations 302. Then, the transshipment locationdetermination unit 126 may determine the implicitly assigned hubs 308for the destination location 302-2. To accomplish this, thetransshipment location determination unit 126 accesses thetransportation connection cache 128 via its interface, and determinesall possible connections ending at the supplied locations, e.g., thestarting location 302-1, the destination location 302-2, and theexplicitly assigned hubs 304 for the start and destination locations302.

FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical representation of the routing selector114 with mapping information according to an embodiment. The example ofFIG. 4 relates to a transportation proposal for the shipment of goodsfrom Minneapolis to Karlsruhe. In this example, the transportationnetwork determined by the routing selector 114 provides the differentpossible paths for the shipment of goods between Minneapolis andKarlsruhe. The routing selector 114 may determine the transportationnetwork including the locations and the connectors in the same manner asdescribed with reference to FIG. 3. However, in the example of FIG. 4,geographical mapping information is provided along with the determinedlocations.

FIG. 5 illustrates a transportation proposal user interface 500according to an embodiment. The transportation proposal user interface500 may include a master data selection 502, search criteria 506, and amap 508 providing a geographical visualization of the connections forthe transportation proposal. For example, a user may select connections504 with the master data selection 502, and then define the searchcriteria 506 by supplying the start location 506-1 and the destinationlocation 506-2. Then, when the user selects the search button, the map508 may be populated with the various connections for shipping betweenthe start location 506-1 and the destination location 506-2.

In addition, the map 508 may include an explanation box 510 thatprovides details regarding the location and/or the connection. Forexample, a user may select (or hover) over a particular location shownin the map 508, and the explanation box 510 may provide details of thatlocation. Also, a user may select (or hover) or a particular connection(e.g., one of the lines) shown in the map 508, and the explanation box510 may provide details regarding the connection.

FIG. 6 illustrates a transportation proposal user interface 600according to an embodiment. The transportation proposal user interface600 may provide a plurality of transportation proposals, e.g., as shownby transportation proposals 602. The example of FIG. 6 illustrates afirst transportation proposal 602-1, a second transportation proposal602-2, a third transportation proposal 602-3, a fourth transportationproposal 602-4, and a fifth transportation proposal 602-5. Each of thetransportation proposals 602 includes the relevant connections 606. Withrespect to the first transportation proposal 602-1, the connections 606include the details of each stage of the route, e.g., identification ofthe document (booking order, schedule, freight order, etc.), means oftransport, and the source and the destination of that stage. Also, thetransportation proposal user interface 600 may include a map 604 thatgeographically displays a particular transportation proposal 602, and anexplanation box 608 (when activated) that provides details regarding acertain location and/or connection.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating example operations of thetransportation management system 100 of FIG. 1 according to anembodiment. Although FIG. 7 is illustrated as a sequential, orderedlisting of operations, it will be appreciated that some or all of theoperations may occur in a different order, or in parallel, oriteratively, or may overlap in time.

Transportation parameters may be received (702). For example, theconnection cache access engine 129 may be configured to receive thetransportation parameters including a first location (starting location)and a second location (destination location).

A connection cache may be queried based on the transportation parameters(704). For example, the connection cache access engine 129 may beconfigured to query the transportation connection cache 128 based on thetransportation parameters.

For example, the transportation connection cache 128 may includeinformation that is necessary for determining the transportation networkfor transportation proposal, as opposed to the larger set of informationcontained in the databases 130. For example, upon creation of atransportation object (e.g., schedule, freight document, transportationlane, default route, etc.) within its respective database 130, thetransportation connection cache 128 may be populated withconnection-relevant transportation information associated with thecreated transportation object, which include only the details fordetermining possible connections without the other details such as thehouse bill of landing, for example. In other words, only the informationfrom the transportation objects (schedules, freight bookings, freightorders, transportation lanes, default routes, etc.) that are relevant todetermining connections may be populated into the transportationconnection cache 128. As such, the transportation connection cache 128may include transportation objects related to the schedules, freightbookings, freight orders, transportation lanes, default routes, howevereach of these transportation objects of the transportation connectioncache 128 may include less information than the correspondingtransportation objects in the databases 130.

One or more transportation objects may be selected from the connectioncache that is relevant for the first location and the second location(706). For example, the connection cache access engine 129 may beconfigured to select one or more transportation objects related to thefreight bookings, the schedules, the freight orders, the transportationlanes, and/or default routes from the transportation connection cache128, that are relevant for the first location and the second location.In particular, the connection cache access engine 129 may select theappropriate schedules, freight documents, transportation lanes, and/ordefault routes from the transportation connection cache 128 that involvethe first location and the second location.

Implementations of the various techniques described herein may beimplemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware,firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Implementations mayimplemented as a computer program product, i.e., a computer programtangibly embodied in an information carrier, e.g., in a machine-readablestorage device or in a propagated signal, for execution by, or tocontrol the operation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., aprogrammable processor, a computer, or multiple computers. A computerprogram, such as the computer program(s) described above, can be writtenin any form of programming language, including compiled or interpretedlanguages, and can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-aloneprogram or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitablefor use in a computing environment. A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers at one site ordistributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communicationnetwork.

Method steps may be performed by one or more programmable processorsexecuting a computer program to perform functions by operating on inputdata and generating output. Method steps also may be performed by, andan apparatus may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry,e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. Elements of a computer may include atleast one processor for executing instructions and one or more memorydevices for storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer alsomay include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transferdata to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data,e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks. Informationcarriers suitable for embodying computer program instructions and datainclude all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of examplesemiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks;magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor andthe memory may be supplemented by, or incorporated in special purposelogic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, implementations may beimplemented on a computer having a display device, e.g., a cathode raytube (CRT) or liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor, for displayinginformation to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, e.g., amouse or a trackball, by which the user can provide input to thecomputer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interactionwith a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can beany form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback,or tactile feedback; and input from the user can be received in anyform, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

Implementations may be implemented in a computing system that includes aback-end component, e.g., as a data server, or that includes amiddleware component, e.g., an application server, or that includes afront-end component, e.g., a client computer having a graphical userinterface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with animplementation, or any combination of such back-end, middleware, orfront-end components. Components may be interconnected by any form ormedium of digital data communication, e.g., a communication network.Examples of communication networks include a local area network (LAN)and a wide area network (WAN), e.g., the Internet.

While certain features of the described implementations have beenillustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions,changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. Itis, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended tocover all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of theembodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transportation management system for retrievingtransportation information related to a shipment of goods using atransportation cache database without having to access and searchmultiple databases, the transportation management system comprising: oneor more processors; a replication engine configured to replicatetransportation information, describing one or more connections, from aplurality of databases and store the transportation information,describing the one or more connections, as transportation objects havingonly the transportation information, describing the one or moreconnections, in the transportation cache database, the transportationcache database including an in-memory database, wherein upon creation ofa transportation object within one of the plurality of databases, thereplication engine is configured to populate the transportation cachedatabase with only the transportation information, describing the one ormore connections, associated with the created transportation object, theplurality of databases storing schedules and freight documents formultiple modes of transportation, the schedules defining transportationcapabilities of ocean, air, rail, and vehicle carriers, the freightdocuments including freight bookings and freight orders, the freightbookings including air-freight bookings and ocean-freight bookings, thefreight orders including road-freight orders and rail-freight orders,the plurality of databases having separate access structures that permitaccess to respective transportation objects stored therein, thetransportation cache database not storing details of the schedules andthe freight documents that are not related to determining potentialconnections for the shipment of goods; a connection cache access engineconfigured to receive transportation parameters including a firstlocation and a second location, and query the transportation cachedatabase via a single uniform interface using the transportationparameters to dynamically select transportation objects from thetransportation cache database that are relevant for transporting theshipment of goods between the first location and the second locationinstead of independently accessing and searching the plurality ofdatabases via the separate access structures; a routing selectorconfigured to select a transportation network including determiningconnections within the transportation network between the first locationand the second location based on the transportation information,describing the one or more connections, in the transportation cachedatabase; a transportation proposal unit configured to determinetransportation proposals based on the determined connections within theselected transportation network, each transportation proposal providinga different transportation plan for transporting the shipment of goodsfrom the first location to the second location, the transportationproposals including a first transportation proposal for freight andocean transportation, and a second transportation proposal for freightand air transportation; and a geo-map unit configured to display a mapproviding a visualization of the transportation proposals based on thedetermined connections from the routing selector, wherein thetransportation proposals are provided via a transportation proposal userinterface, the transportation proposal user interface defining a sectionthat lists the transportation proposals and the determined connections,wherein a display of the first transportation proposal identifies theconnections of different stages of the first transportation proposal,and the connections identify one or more of the freight documents. 2.The transportation management system of claim 1, wherein thetransportation cache database stores a smaller set of informationcontained within the schedules and the freight documents than theschedules and the freight documents stored in the plurality ofdatabases.
 3. The transportation management system of claim 1, whereinthe plurality of databases further stores transportation lanes, and thetransportation cache database stores transportation information,describing one or more connections, for the transportation lanes, andthe connection cache access engine is configured to select at least onetransportation object from the transportation cache database related toat least one transportation lane that is relevant for transporting theshipment of goods between the first location and the second location. 4.The transportation management system of claim 1, wherein the pluralityof databases further stores default routes, and the transportation cachedatabase stores transportation information, describing one or moreconnections, for the default routes, and the connection cache accessengine is configured to select at least one transportation object fromthe transportation cache database related to at least one default routethat is relevant for transporting the shipment of goods between thefirst location and the second location, the at least one default routeproviding an existing defined route between the first location and thesecond location.
 5. The transportation management system of claim 1,wherein the connections include at least one of a direct or multi-stopschedule, a freight booking, a freight order, a transportation lane, anda default route between the first location and the second location. 6.The transportation management system of claim 1, wherein the routingselector includes: a transshipment location determination unitconfigured to determine a first explicitly assigned hub associated withthe first location, and a second explicitly assigned hub associated withthe second location, wherein the routing selector is configured toselect transportation objects for the transportation network using thefirst explicitly assigned hub and the second explicitly assigned hub asentries into the transportation cache database.
 7. The transportationmanagement system of claim 6, wherein the routing selector is configuredto determine at least one implicitly assigned hub associated with thefirst location and at least one implicitly assigned hub associated withthe second location based on an analysis of the transportationinformation, describing the one or more connections, of thetransportation cache database.
 8. The transportation management systemof claim 7, wherein the routing selector further includes: a path finderconfigured to create and verify available paths associated with theimplicitly and explicitly assigned hubs, wherein the routing selector isconfigured to select the connections having verified paths.
 9. Thetransportation management system of claim 1, wherein the map includes anexplanation interface element that, when activated, provides furtherdetails regarding a determined connection.
 10. The transportationmanagement system of claim 1, wherein, when the transportation cachedatabase is parameterized to return only schedule connections, thetransportation proposal unit is configured to combine availableschedules without considering the transportation information, describingone or more connections, of the freight documents.
 11. A computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing executable code thereon that, when executed, isconfigured to cause at least one processor to access a transportationcache database without having to access and search multiple databases,the executable code including instructions to cause the at least oneprocessor to perform steps comprising: replicate transportationinformation, describing one or more connections, from a plurality ofdatabases storing schedules and freight documents for multiple modes oftransportation, the schedules defining transportation capabilities ofocean, air, rail, and vehicle carriers, the freight documents includingfreight bookings and freight orders, the freight bookings includingair-freight bookings and ocean-freight bookings, the freight ordersincluding road-freight orders and rail-freight orders, wherein a freightdocument includes planned departure times of vehicles and a bill oflading, the plurality of databases having separate access structuresthat permit access to respective transportation objects stored therein,wherein the planned departure times of vehicles are replicated but notthe bill of lading for storage within the transportation cache database;store the transportation information, describing the one or moreconnections, as transportation objects having only the transportationinformation, describing the one or more connections, in thetransportation cache database, the transportation cache databaseincluding an in-memory database, wherein upon creation of atransportation object within one of the plurality of databases, thetransportation cache database is populated with only transportationinformation, describing the one or more connections, associated with thecreated transportation object, the transportation cache database notstoring details of the schedules and the freight documents that are notrelated to determining potential connections for a shipment of goods;receive transportation parameters including a first location and asecond location; query the transportation cache database via a singleuniform interface using the transportation parameters instead ofindependently accessing and searching the plurality of databases via theseparate access structures; select a transportation network includingdetermining connections within the transportation network fortransporting the shipment of goods between the first location and thesecond location based on the transportation information, describing theone or more connections, in the transportation cache database; determinetransportation proposals based on the determined connections within theselected transportation network, each transportation proposal providinga different transportation plan for transporting the shipment of goodsfrom the first location to the second location, the transportationproposals including a first transportation proposal for freight andocean transportation, and a second transportation proposal for freightand air transportation; and display a map providing a visualization ofthe transportation proposals based on the determined connections. 12.The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the plurality ofdatabases further stores transportation lanes, and the transportationcache database stores transportation information, describing one or moreconnections, for the transportation lanes, and instructions to selectone or more transportation objects include selecting at least onetransportation object from the transportation cache database related toat least one transportation lane that is relevant for transporting theshipment of goods between the first location and the second location.13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the plurality ofdatabases further stores default routes, and the transportation cachedatabase stores transportation information, describing one or moreconnections, for the default routes, and the instructions includeinstructions to select at least one transportation object from thetransportation cache database related to at least one default route thatis relevant for transporting the shipment of goods between the firstlocation and the second location, the at least one default routeproviding an existing defined route between the first location and thesecond location.
 14. The computer program product of claim 11, whereinthe connections include at least one of a direct or multi-stop schedule,a freight booking, a freight order, a transportation lane, and a defaultroute between the first location and the second location.
 15. Thecomputer program product of claim 11, wherein the instructions includeinstructions to: determine a first explicitly assigned hub associatedwith the first location, and a second explicitly assigned hub associatedwith the second location; and select transportation objects for thetransportation network using the first explicitly assigned hub and thesecond explicitly assigned hub as entries into the transportation cachedatabase.
 16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein theinstructions include instructions to: determine at least one implicitlyassigned hub associated with the first location and at least oneimplicitly assigned hub associated with the second location based on ananalysis of the transportation information, describing the one or moreconnections, of the transportation cache database.
 17. A method foraccess to a transportation cache database without having to access andsearch multiple databases, the method comprising: replicating, by atleast one processor, transportation information, describing one or moreconnections, from a plurality of separate databases storing schedulesand freight documents for multiple modes of transportation, theschedules defining transportation capabilities of ocean, air, rail, andvehicle carriers, the freight documents including freight bookings andfreight orders, the freight bookings including air-freight bookings andocean-freight bookings, the freight orders including road-freight ordersand rail-freight orders, the plurality of separate databases havingseparate access structures that permit access to respectivetransportation objects stored therein; storing, by the at least oneprocessor, the transportation information, describing the one or moreconnections, as transportation objects having only the transportationinformation, describing the one or more connections, in thetransportation cache database, the transportation cache databaseincluding an in-memory database, the transportation cache database notstoring details of the schedules and the freight documents that are notrelated to determining potential connections for a shipment of goods;receiving, by the at least one processor, transportation parameters forthe shipment of goods from a first location to a second location;selecting, by the at least one processor, a transportation networkincluding determining connections within the transportation network forthe first location and the second location based on the transportationinformation, describing the one or more connections, in thetransportation cache database including querying the transportationcache database via a single uniform interface using the transportationparameters instead of independently accessing and searching theplurality of separate databases via the separate access structures;determining, by the at least one processor, transportation proposalsbased on the determined connections within the selected transportationnetwork, each transportation proposal providing a differenttransportation plan for transporting the shipment of goods from thefirst location to the second location, the transportation proposalsincluding a first transportation proposal for freight and oceantransportation, and a second transportation proposal for freight and airtransportation; and displaying a map providing a visualization of thetransportation proposals based on the determined connections, whereinthe transportation proposals are provided via a transportation proposaluser interface, the transportation proposal user interface defining asection that lists the transportation proposals and the determinedconnections, wherein a display of the first transportation proposalidentifies the connections of different stages of the firsttransportation proposal, and the connections identify one or more of thefreight documents.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the connectionsinclude at least one of a direct or multi-stop schedule, a freightbooking order, a freight order, a transportation lane, and a defaultroute.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the selecting, by the atleast one processor, a transportation network including determiningconnections within the transportation network for the first location andthe second location based on the transportation information, describingthe one or more connections, in the transportation cache databasefurther includes: determining a first explicitly assigned hub associatedwith the first location, and a second explicitly assigned hub associatedwith the second location; and selecting transportation objects for thetransportation network using the first explicitly assigned hub and thesecond explicitly assigned hub as entries into the transportation cachedatabase.